I'm Standing!

Watch out world, I'm standing. Actually, it's more like watch out Ainsley here I come to see your toys! I'm not sure how this happened so fast. It seems like we went from crawling to standing within weeks of each other. (Well, that actually was the approximate timing.) Thankfully Andrew has been quite content to just stand and look at things. Here are some shots of him standing up like a big boy.

Who me? Yes, I'm standing and crawling up the stairs. (8/29/09)

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

Please come get me, I have no where to go! (9/01/09)

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I'm so grown up. Grown up clothes, grown up pose. (9/03/09)

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Barely hanging on. We are definitely one-handing most everything now. Stand and reach is his motto. (10/1/09)

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

Since I'm writing this in October now, I can tell you that his confidence has increased with this skill dramatically. Over the past two weeks we have successfully noticed some walking around tables and a desire to stand without assistance. I'm guessing we will have some videos of him walking before we reach the end of the year.

oh, and notice the lack of footwear. This is becoming a problem. Socks are a definite dislike in Andrew's book. To keep them on we have to put shoes on as well. You should see the grin he gets though when he's allowed to yank them off and wiggle his toes. I'm thinking we will suffer from cold feet all winter. He's just like his sister :)

Pony Tail

Ainsley's hair is getting longer and longer. It seems to have really hit a growth spurt as of late. Here she is sporting her first pony tail ever.

From The Rankin Family

We also have been working on perfecting braiding. I've gotten decent at braiding the pig tails. Nana managed to french braid Ainsley's hair last time she was here. We'll try to get pictures of that sometime soon.

Reading!

Ainsley has really gotten busy into reading here lately.

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I'm not sure how this happened, but we have started reading big books. Not big word or big picture books, long books. Mom's books from her childhood are still in pretty good shape and we've been reading at least two chapters a day. We successfully read through The Ordinary Princess and we only have one chapter left in Charlotte's Web. So far, Ainsley prefers The Ordinary Princess and has asked to read it again. Personally, my vote is for Stuart Little or The Trumpet of the Swan next. Don't get me wrong, we still read Curious George, Skippy Jon Jones, and other picture books but the imagination has been going crazy as we have read books with less pictures.

We also have been working diligently on writing her name, spelling words, and the sounds each letter makes in the alphabet. Some of our fun activities include finding all the letters in her name on signs while we are in the car, spelling every word we say (mom's getting better at making the sounds of the letters), and singing all the things we do.

Teaching Ainsley how to read is on our list of school items for the year. She is ready. So now, we just need to find some easy readers that she hasn't already memorized. Go Dog Go, A Fish Out of Water, Put Me in the Zoo, Hop On Pop, and other short Dr. Suess books have already been comittted to memory. I'll take suggestions if you have any.

Strike a Pose (with some Balance)

I am so into dress up now a days. I wear a dress (regular clothes or dress up) every day now. It's hard when we go to the park sometimes and I have to put on shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. I am really more into "tapping shoes" and ballet slippers. I really like jewelry too! Check out all of my necklaces and my outfit.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

Though I am great at all of this girl stuff, it's important to have some balance. So, here I am in my garden. It's a good outdoor thing, complete with bugs and dirt.

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Our produce has been growing great. Here is a picture of our first harvest.

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The beans are the best. I may have pulled my carrots a bit too soon, they were a little bitter and not sweet. Or perhaps, that's the way home grown carrots taste. I am very excited to try our peppers. The pepper plants are almost weighed down with all of the little peppers we have growing. They are by far the most bountiful. We've got tomatoes too. Truth be told they aren't my favorites. But mom and I made some salsa with them and that was pretty good.

My First Swing

Wow, the time has flown and I am growing up so quickly. June brought the feat of sitting up by myself and with that I get to do a whole bunch of new things. I'm in the high chair which you have all seen. But check this out, now I am in a swing.

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I love swinging in our backyard with my sister right next to me. It's fun to watch her.

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I get to go higher than she does because she is just learning how to swing herself. Mom gives me smiles while she pushes me. Then she says "out" and "in" to Ainsley while she's teaching her the finer points of pumping her legs. (I think mom's doing this so she doesn't have to push two of us.)

Our sweet boy!

Yes, he's still sweet and beginning to develop a bit of a personality. I would verge on calling it demanding now. I use to pass it off as frustration on his part but now, he's demanding. His great way to communicate "more food, please!" is with a few hand smacks on the high chair tray. But he keeps the smiles coming and I look forward to seeing how his personality and Ainsley's mesh together as he begins to do more than babble and goes after things he would like to explore.

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin

From Andrew Tyndale Rankin